Palma.A massive search operation was under way yesterday after two young men were washed away by a huge wave on Wednesday evening while trying to have their picture taken in front of the rough sea off Cala Mendia near Porto Cristo in the municipality of Manacor.
The accident happened at 5pm while they were taking a break from work.
20 -year-old Jose Luis G.I and Brahiar E. H.A, aged 23, decided to climb on top of a rock some four metres over the sea to get a picture of the surging sea and crashing waves.
The third member of the group of workers decided to stay away from the coast while the two young men tried to capture the rough weather.
Their work colleague took a set of pictures of the two and then, as he popped back to his car for a brief moment, a giant wave crashed against the rock and swept the two men into the raging water.
Helicopter
Their work colleague immediately raised the alarm and security forces were quickly at the scene with support from a Guardia Civil helicopter and an air sea rescue launch.
However, with light fading fast by this point and the conditions still extremely rough, the search had to eventually be postponed until first light yesterday morning.
A Guardia Civil unit remained at the scene in Cala Mendia throughout the night and the entire coastline was cordoned off to prevent any further accidents.
Yesterday, the search operation, despite the rough conditions, was significantly stepped up and the search area expanded.
Their work colleague was helping with the search, having given the police all the information about the accident but was said to have still been in a severe state of shock yesterday having watched his two mates being swept away.
At going to press last night, there was still no news of the two missing young South Americans.